DUNCAN Hodge, the interim head coach at Edinburgh, looked a broken man. The week that started with the news he had failed to land his dream job on a long-term basis ended with his team self destructing and effectively destroying the last lingering hopes they had of finishing in the top half of the Guinness PRO12.
"We just imploded," he said. "It was very similar to a couple of weeks ago, kicking, execution, decision making. I'm speechless. Bits were positive but it does not help us, that is another game we should have won, that is the sickening thing. It was just so, so disappointing."
With that, he pulled his jacket hood up and left to take refuge inside the clubhouse where he could be alone with his thoughts.
He was right. For an hour, Edinburgh had done everything to show that he deserved better than his SRU masters were treating him. Then the team seemed to detach their collective brains and and surrendered 12 points in as many minutes to give away a game they could and should have won.
To be fair, there was an element of bad luck as well. Two of their tries were just inside the touchline and with a tricky wind, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne missed both conversions – either would have won the match. On top of that they had what looked a perfectly good try disallowed.
In poor weather conditions, neither side was prepared to try anything too clever, so there was a lot of kicking for position and a lot of one-out runners putting their heads down and being smashed to the ground within a few feet.
In between all that, Cardiff did manage a couple of penalties kicked by Steve Shingler, the centre, but it was Edinburgh who claimed the first try as they took advantage of a series of penalty awards on their lone visit to the opposition 22 and eventually got a driving maul going to work Neil Cochrane, the hooker and captain, over for the score.
With Sam Hidalgo-Clyne converting, it was enough to keep their noses in front at the break. They could have gone in even further ahead when Blair Kinghorn kicked through but Chris Dean could not control the ball as a couple of yards from the line.
The second half opened perfectly for Edinburgh, even though Dean was again unlucky when what looked a perfectly good try was disallowed. The pressure position worked, though, with Rory Scholes coming off his wing to race down the opposite touchline and score. He was soon back in the action, touching down on the other after a patient build-up.
That seemed to inspire the Welsh, though. Sublime offloading put Jarrad Hoeta, the lock through with enough support to see Sion Bennett, the flanker in for the try. That inspired the Welsh who started to batter at the Edinburgh line. With a penalty coming Lloyd Williams, the scrum-half, kicked over the Edinburgh line and a lucky bounce gave him the winning try.
Edinburgh: Tries: Cochrane (15), Scholes (45, 54). Con: Hidalgo-Clyne.
Cardiff Blues: Tries: Bennett (61), Williams |(71). Con: Shingler. Pens: Shingler (6, 19) Scoring sequence (Edinburgh first): 0-3, 7-3, 7-6 (half time), 12-6, 17-6, 17-13, 17-18,
Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, G Bryce, C Dean, R Scholes; J Tovey (M Allen, 34-41), S Hidalgo-Clyne, J Cosgrove, N Cochrane (C), M McCallum (K Bryce, 34), F McKenzie (L Carmichael, 28), B Toolis, M Bradbury (G Gilchrist, 45-52), J Ritchie, C Du Preez.
Cardiff Blues: M Morgan; A Cuthbert, W Halaholo (G Smith, 75), S Shingler, T James; G Anscombe, L Williams; R Gill (C Domachowski, 75), K Dacey (M Rees, 49), A Peikrishvili (sin bin: 14-24, S Andrews, 49), G Earle, J Hoeata (sin bin: 29-39), M Cook, S Bennett, N Williams.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Attendance: 4,080
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